OF THE CHILDREN : Panagiota P. Lampri,

OF THE CHILDREN 

Panagiota P. Lampri,

Like rose-tinted roses cut down

at the dawn of a flowering, fertile spring,

are the dead children of the insatiable wars.

Their innocent gaze, setting too soon,

holds within it games, drawings, books…

friends and beloved faces,

and refuses the frenzy of humankind.

Their ears, once filled with warlike cries,

hear them no more, only gentle songs,

and their mother’s soothing lullabies

send them onward into the harmony of the universe.

Their faces, once promising life,

now pale, drawn toward the unknown beyond,

are lit in singular radiance

by the light of the stars,

until… until they turn again toward the earth in awe,

and, wondering at the violent passions of mortals,

vanish into the cosmos, at peace.

The children, the tender spoils of wars,

utter but one word as they die: “PEACE!”

(Panagiota P. Lampri was born in Rodavgi, Arta, Greece. She studied Philology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and taught in secondary education. She has published her writings in newspapers and academic journals and has published sixteen books, eight of which are poetry collections.)